The present invention relates generally to bed liners for the beds of pickup trucks, and more specifically to an improved bed liner, floor ribbed pattern and mounting device.
There has been a growing trend to use unitary liners in the beds of pickup trucks. These liners are of various designs of rib patterns and dimensional shape and have included various mounting devices.
To prevent moisture and foreign material from collecting between the liner and the bed of the truck, the primary bed liners have been dimensioned and structured so as to provide a tight fit between the bottom of the liner and the bottom of the bed. Since the side wall of the truck generally includes an inwardly extending rail, the side wall of the liner is offset from the side wall of the truck. Thus, the height of the side wall of the liner has been made to be equal to or greater than the height of the rail relative to the bed of the truck. This allows the side wall to bow into the space below the rail if the height of the rail is shorter than the height of the side wall.
The installation process generally includes positioning the liner within the bed and securing or mounting the liner to the side walls of the bed by fasteners which limit movement therebetween. With use and temperature changes, the liner expands and contracts changing the bow of the side wall of the liner. If the liner is already bowed because of a misfit, the continued bowing in warm weather may not be accommodated and cause undesirable stress throughout the liner side walls. The stress will be concentrated at the fastener and thereby creates cracking or tearing of the side wall at the fastener. Similarly, longitudinal stress is produced in the liner upon loading and unloading heavy objects. This provides additional stress concentrated at the fastener. Prior art fasteners have not accommodated this stress concentration and therefore the liners have generally cracked or ripped at the fastener.
The ribbing on the bottom of the liner has generally provided areas of localizing accumulation of water and foreign material. These generally occur at the corner defined by the intersection of the front and side walls. Similarly, the ribbed pattern extends into the side and front walls and especially the wheel well walls. This prevents appropriate draining from the front to the back of the liner.
The free standing liners are individually nested or stacked one upon the other for shipment. Prior art design of the liners allows the side walls to flare increasingly outward from the front wall when the liners are in a free-standing condition. This flaring produces the undesirable effect of reducing the quantity of liners that may be nested within the limited width of the hauling means and further produces an outward distortion of the side walls of the liners arranged on the bottom of the nest from the stresses applied along the area of interesection of the side and floor walls resulting from the weight of the liners nested above.
Thus it is an object of the present invention to provide an improved liner which will accommodate fluctuations of the liner with change of temperature and loading.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a securing device for the liner which allows for reduction and distribution of stress.
A still further object of the present invention is to provide a mounting device for liners which allows for longitudinal adjustment.
A still even further object of the present invention is to provide a rib pattern in the floor of a liner which prevents accumulation of moisture and foreign material in the liner.
A still even further objective of the present invention is to provide a vertical rib pattern on the liner side walls allowing for increased nesting capabilities.
These and other objects are attained by providing a positioning element which positions the liner side wall relative to the bed side wall so that the bottom of the liner side wall and adjacent portions of the liner bottom wall are displaced from the bed bottom wall. This will allow the bottom wall and the side wall to deflect downward under loads and changes of temperature. It also allows positioning of the side walls prior to mounting to assure a perfect fit. The positioning element may be a flange extending outwardly from the top of the liner side walls for engaging the top of the bed side wall rail extending inwardly therefrom. The height of the liner side wall may be equal to or less than the height of the bed side wall. The liner flange forms an acute angle with the liner side wall to produce the appropriate positioning to assure that the bottom of the liner side wall and adjacent portion of the liner bottom wall are displaced from the bed bottom wall. A lip may extend downwardly from the liner flange and engage the top of the rail of the bed side wall.
To prevent accumulation of foreign material and moisture in the liner, the bottom wall includes an inclined portion inclined with respect to the liner side, front and bottom walls at the corner defined by the side and front walls. The bottom wall also includes a plurality of spaced raised ribs spaced from the side walls to form a peripheral drain adjacent the front and side walls. They are also displaced from the wheel wells to form a drain therebetween. The ribs are divided into two groups of parallel ribs extending at opposite acute angles with respect to the longitudinal axis of the liner bottom wall and are separated from each other by a longitudinal center line to form a center drain. A raised transverse rib extends between the liner side walls adjacent the back of the liner and spaced from the plurality of ribs to form a drain therebetween. An opening in the transverse rib at the longitudinal center axis of the liner bottom wall defines an outlet for the drains.
To increase the nesting capabilities of the free-standing liners, the height of the wall ribs at the area forward of the wheel well portions are reduced with respect to the wall ribs rearward providing increased rigidity at the side walls decreasing the amount of the rearward flaring of the side walls when the liner is free-standing. Further, the opening provided in the transverse rib allows the rearward floor wall to collapse into a "V" shape at the opening when the liner is free-standing further allowing the side walls to assume an approximately parallel alignment. This then allows the nesting of an increased quantity of the liners within the limited width of the hauling means and also decreases the distorting stresses applied at area of intersection of the side and floor walls.
In an especially preferred embodiment of the invention a mounting device for mounting a liner side wall to a truck bed having an inwardly and downwardly extending side rail includes a handle member having a blocking device extending from the handle member and having a washer extending from the blocking device and a fastener. The blocking device is formed with rounded edges allowing rotation of the blocking device within the slot provided through the liner side wall. The blocking device is inserted through the slot with the washer disposed against the side rail. The fastener is received through the blocking device and washer extending through the side rail. The blocking device is disposed against the bottom of the slot which allows horizontal and vertically downward movement and prevents vertically upward movement of the liner side wall.
In a certain preferred embodiment of the invention, a mounting device includes a handle member having a blocking device extending from the handle member and a fastener. A slot is provided through the liner wall. The width and height of the blocking device is less than the width and height of the slot. The blocking device is inserted through the slot and is disposed against the rail and the fastener is received through the blocking device extending through the rail. The blocking device is also disposed against the bottom of the slot which allows horizontal and vertically downward movement and prevents vertical upward movement of the side wall liner.
In another certain preferred embodiment of the invention a mounting device includes a handle member having a blocking device extending from the handle member, a swiveling device including a base having parallelly aligned prongs extending perpendicular to the base and mounting legs. The mounting legs are of one equal length and arranged inside the downwardly extending portion of the rail. The ends of the mounting legs are chamfered and slidably receive the prongs therebetween. A slot is provided through the liner side wall through which the blocking device is inserted and disposed against the rail. The width and height of the blocking device is less than the width and height of the slot. A fastener is threadably received through the handle and blocking device extending through a bore provided in the base. The fastener is received in the gap between the prongs, which gap is less in height than the inside diameter of the bore forcing the prongs to engage and grip the chamfered ends of the mounting legs. A tightening of the fastener allows the mounting legs to rotate until the longer leg engages the top of the rail securing the disposition of the blocking device against the bottom of the slot and thereby permitting horizontal and vertically downward movement and preventing vertically upward movement of the liner side wall.
Other objects, advantages and novel features of the present invention will become apparent from the following detailed description of the invention when considered in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.